14:00-19:00, Sunday 20th September 2026
The Cockpit

Tête â Tête, Aukoko and CN Lester invite you to share tea, cake and thinking about not what opera was or is but what it could be - visions for and pathways to the future.

“We all were sea-swallow'd, though some cast again, 
And by that destiny to perform an act 
Whereof what's past is prologue, what to come 
In yours and my discharge.” 
Antonio, Act II, Scene 1 The Tempest, William Shakespeare 1611 

Richard Branson described the financial crisis of 2008 as a “correction”, not a crisis. Brutal though this is, opera is without a doubt really hitting a pivot point right now. A whole community of artists, meanwhile, has grown out of Tête à Tête passionately committed to the art form, and to reinvigorating our art form through bold new work.

We invite you to join our young, inclusive, visionary community to enjoy some cake, a smattering of performance, some provocations and a call to action. Fuelled by both what we bring and discussion on the day, we will jointly envision where to move on from this pivot point and how we can make a future for the art form that holds us so in its thrall.

Schedule:

14:00 The Artist Tea
A talk / A sharing / breaking of bread - Led by host April Koyejo-Audiger (Atelier Aukoko)
A curated gathering around tea & cake, bringing artists and participants together to share experiences, ideas, questions and stories centered on the exploration of the future of opera .

15:00 Tea and Cake at the bar

15:30 Short Performance 1 TBA  - April

16:00 'Where and What Next? From Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival onwards' - a provocation by CN Lester.
- The current state of opera, classical music, the music industry in general and audience, commissioning, economic and funding trends and data, and what this means for TàT artists
- Creative ways to forge a career and make authentic and satisfying work within this framework
- Will use both their academic research and their own work - particularly Frankenstein and their work on Barbara Strozzi - to ground this talk in practical examples
- Provide resources and provocations to further work/calls to action
- Q&A Time allowing

17:00 Short performance 2 tba (CN)
Tea and cake at the bar

17:30 Opera without limits
Part sharing, part workshop
A rapid fire operamaking workshop, exploring trends, technology and storytelling.
Ending with an option for participants to present a short presentation .

19:00 adjourn to the bar for celebrations and ruminations.
Drinks 19:00 to get out - pay bar.

https://www.tete-a-tete.org.uk/event/whats-past-is-prologue/

Sunday 20 September - 2:00pm - 7:00pm